How my garden is like my parenting!

This week we had someone come in to tackle our garden, as it had changed into a meadow! The grass was waist height on Violet and you couldn’t even see her behind the flower beds! I actually like the meadow…I love wild flowers (weeds according to my husband!) and we’ve got enough space to let everything overgrown. Plus the flowers are good for the nest of honey bees in our garden (which are in turn good for our environment). Dexter and Violet loved it all overgrown…perfect for water fights!

Here’s the thing though…it just didn’t suit me.

Firstly I’m allergic to grass pollen…not good when the grass has seeded

Secondly I’m allergic to bee stings…not good when your whole garden is covered in bees (as I found out the other Sunday when I got stung…it’s pretty unnerving to be hallucinating when you’re on your own with two young children!)

Thirdly, as much as they loved it, there were restrictions for them…like having to wear shoes because of the bees and a game of football was tricky!

As much I didn’t want the garden completely free range, I also didn’t want it completely in order…just like our family life. Some families do completely free range, for some it’s attachment parenting, others are strict and others are very organised. There has never been a particular style of parenting that has resonated with me…they have all felt a bit extreme! I like balance…some parts of my parenting style are really laid back, and others not so much. I parent intuitively, to understand what my children need alongside what I need…to identify what is right for us.

It’s not always easy though! Being exhausted, processing our own stuff and dealing with what’s going on in our world can block our intuition.

Parenting intuitively always starts with connection and understanding, both with ourselves and our children. In order to connect with yourself, it’s essential that you give yourself space…from that comes understanding about yourself and how best you can connect with and understand your children.

There are so many resources to help you with this in the Connected Parenting Online Summer Summit…and it is only available until this coming Tuesday, so if you haven’t signed up yet, do it now! Remember you get 8 online workshops absolutely FREE!